About the Consortium

The Forest Pest Management Research Consortium (FPMRC) is a national industry–research partnership coordinated by the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) and co-invested through Forest & Wood Products Australia (FWPA). The Consortium brings together plantation forest growers, forest managers, crop protection companies, researchers, and regulatory stakeholders to address priority challenges in weed, pest, disease, and browsing mammal management, alongside innovation in spray application and drift reduction technologies.

Through applied research, operational trials, and targeted extension, the FPMRC delivers evidence-based, field-ready solutions that support forest productivity, regulatory compliance, certification requirements, and long-term sustainability across Australia’s plantation estate.

Why the Consortium Matters

Australian plantation forests operate in increasingly complex regulatory, environmental, and social landscapes. Forest managers must balance productivity with safety, sustainability, and community expectations.

The FPMRC exists to help industry:

• Maintain access to effective and responsible pest management tools
•  Reduce reliance on high-risk or outdated practices
• Improve confidence in operational decision-making
• Respond proactively to emerging pest, weed, and disease threats
• Support certification, stewardship, and regulatory obligations

By working collaboratively at a national scale, the Consortium enables outcomes that are difficult or costly for individual organisations to achieve alone.

Our Research Focus

FPMRC research spans the full plantation lifecycle and focuses on challenges with real operational impact, including:

• Weed management – improving control options, residual performance, and long-term site productivity
• Insect pests and diseases – identifying effective, scalable alternatives for priority threats
• Browsing mammals – understanding impacts and evaluating practical control approaches
• Spray application and drift reduction – improving safety, precision, and environmental performance
• Emerging technologies – including UAVs, modelling tools, and decision-support systems

All research is designed to be field-relevant, replicable, and directly usable by industry.

Benefits of Being Involved

A defining strength of the Forest Pest Management Research Consortium is its ability to turn applied research into practical, on-ground outcomes that directly benefit members and the wider forestry sector.

By being involved in the FPMRC, members gain access to:

• Operationally relevant research tested through large-scale field trials across multiple regions and forest types
• Early insight into emerging control options, technologies, and management approaches before wider adoption
• Clear, practitioner-focused guidance through technical summaries, decision support, and field-based demonstrations
• Stronger regulatory and certification confidence, supported by high-quality, field-derived evidence
• Improved access to safer, more targeted management options, including alternatives to higher-risk practices
• A national network of peers, enabling collaboration, shared learning, and coordinated responses to emerging threat.

Since its establishment, the Consortium has tested hundreds of operational treatments, contributed evidence to regulatory and stewardship frameworks, and helped industry adapt to evolving compliance, certification, and community expectations.

Through collaboration and shared investment, the FPMRC enables outcomes that individual organisations could not achieve alone, strengthening the resilience, productivity, and sustainability of Australia’s plantation forest estate.

Consortium Members

The Forest Pest Management Research Consortium includes a diverse group of plantation growers, forest managers, and industry partners from across Australia:

• Australian Bluegum Plantations (ABP)
• ADAMA Australia
• Associated Kiln Driers (AKD)
• Muirs
• Forestry Corporation of NSW
• Forico
• Forest Products Commission WA
• HQPlantations
• HVP Plantations
•  Midway Limited
• OneFortyOne
• PF Olsen Australia
• Reliance Forest Fibre
• SFM
• Sustainable Timber Tasmania
• Sumitomo Chemical Australia
• Macspred Syngenta
• Timberlands Pacific
• WA Plantation Resources

Collaboration and Engagement

The FPMRC welcomes collaboration with organisations that share an interest in:

• Improving forest health outcomes
• Supporting responsible pest management
• Advancing application technology and safety
• Strengthening evidence-based policy and regulation

Opportunities include research partnerships, trial hosting, extension activities, and strategic engagement.

Contact

Dr Sam Van Holsbeeck

Research Fellow - Forest Pest Management Research Consortium

Forest Research Institute, University of the Sunshine Coast

M: +61 418 699 987

Email: svanhols@usc.edu.au